Which to use
“grasp” and “grasped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,455
- “grasp” frequency rank
- #28,224
- “grasped” frequency rank
- 35679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grasp | grasped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand. | simple past and past participle of grasp |
Where the eye mixes grasp and grasped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: grasp vs grasped
A purely visual mix-up. grasp (/ɡɹɑːsp/) and grasped (/ɡɹæspt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “grasp” sits inside “grasped”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grasp is recorded at frequency rank #7,455, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹɑːsp/. grasped is at rank #28,224, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɹæspt/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 35679, this pair ranks #309,885 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grasp vs grasped
Shared letters: agprs. Private to "grasp": -. Private to "grasped": de.
"grasp" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grasp" for "grasped" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grasp" or "grasped"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "grasp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grasped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,885 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grasp" and "grasped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grasped vs grasse". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #309,885 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.